Stiff controls, some questionable AI, and other quirk...ruin an otherwise entertaining experience.

The simplifications that have been made to the formula ultimately make the game best suited for novice players.

It's inhibited by ponderous combat controls, its repetitious nature, and an overall lack of depth.

The charming visuals may hook you in, but Band of Bugs is too simplistic to be addictive and too frustrating for players looking for a casual strategy fix.

This compilation of arcade driving games proves that you can take the game out of the arcade--it's just not much fun.

The ports are nearly arcade-perfect for the most part, though a few of the games suffer from control issues. Still, at a retail price of less than $20, AAE can be worthwhile if you're feeling nostalgic.

It simply exists in an inoffensive and unexciting realm of commonplaceness that makes it incapable of standing out among the pack of infinitely better racers available for any of its chosen platforms.

The gameplay interface can prove to be very cumbersome, but if you can learn to tolerate how it plays, Maximum Pool is a great deal.

A disappointing effort on all fronts, and probably isn't worth your time.

Attempts to deliver some "Prince of Persia"-like acrobatics, but its sharp graphics are offset by bad control, weak voice work, and shoddy gameplay.

Seasoned fans of the freestyle sports genre will whip through Razor Freestyle Scooter in an afternoon, no questions asked.

While a solid offering that represents its respective license quite well, Looney Tunes Racing isn't the genre-busting piece of software that a last-generation game is supposed to be.

Despite the bacchanalian context, this Sims-style strategy game comes off as cold and mechanical, capturing none of the devil-may-care attitude you'd expect and casting Hef's idyllic lifestyle as a hollow grind established purely for the sake of selling more magazines.

For most players, THQ's Virtua Tennis is simply a better option. It has more variety in the way of techniques and options, and you don't have to wait 20 minutes or so to save your game.

Juka's quest is aesthetically pleasing and incorporates a couple of twists on the usual action role-playing game blueprint, but the easygoing gameplay is clearly geared toward inexperienced players.

The pity is that you get the feeling the game would be a lot more effective if the main character had a drier, more morbid sense of humor. As it is, the attempts to crack weird jokes takes away from the otherwise eerie atmosphere of the game.

An uninteresting story and lackluster gameplay, both online and off, leaves this latest adventure feeling rather flat.

Really fun and truly invigorating--at least until you play through all 16 levels or grow tired of killing things.

This budget-priced "Arkanoid" clone has its moments of creativity, but mostly it's just a serviceable puzzler that offers little outside of well-worn territory.

The core concepts found within the game are of a proven ilk, but the devil's in the details, as they say, and the sloppy execution of said concepts can't keep the game enjoyable for very long.

A capable shooter in its own right.

Adults will find it far too easy, and kids will bemoan its torpid controls. Nasira's Revenge does succeed at being fun at times, but the game ends right around the time it begins.

Eragon has some exciting moments, but they are overshadowed by frustrating controls and tedious level designs.

If unadulterated speed and kaleidoscopic imagery sounds like fun, Ballistics is your ticket to paradise. But many racing fans may well find that paradise short-lived.

Yet despite the bacchanalian context, this Sims-style strategy game comes off as cold and mechanical, capturing none of the devil-may-care attitude you'd expect and casting Hef's idyllic lifestyle as a hollow grind established purely for the sake of selling more magazines.

A poor translation, very repetitive gameplay, and a lack of any multiplayer features mar what otherwise could have been an excellent take on this type of game.

Konami's sights may be locked dead on the retrogaming audience, but Gradius III & IV are both excellent, albeit incredibly difficult, games in their own right.

Practically every criticism you could lobby against the original game is still an issue here, along with a host of new issues that make this version decidedly less fun to play.